Niantic Boss Says Pokémon Go Has As Many Core Pokémon Mechanics As It's Ever Going To Get

Pokémon Go has all of the core Pokémon mechanics it is ever going to have, but that doesn't mean the game is as advanced as it is ever going to be, not by a long shot.

This summer, Pokémon Go will turn three. It's hard to believe that it has been almost three years since the game was released and took the world by storm. It really did feel as if absolutely everyone was playing it. While interest in Pokémon Go dropped off a little in 2017, last year, the innovative title came back with a vengeance in 2018.

Initially, Pokémon Go didn't have as many of the features some players were expecting it to have. In particular, it was missingmechanics from the core games on Nintendo handheld consoles. The ability to pit our Pokémon against our friends' in battles; to collect badges from gyms; level up our Pokémon and teach them new moves; and so on.

We now have all of that, hence the game's resurgent popularity. However, Niantic product manager Matt Slemon recently told Polygon that no more of Pokémon's core mechanics will be added to Pokémon Go. That all the things which have made Pokémon games great for the past two decades or more are now a part of Pokémon Go, and instead, Niantic's focus to improve the game further will begin to shift.

"We think we’ve hit the point where our original launch trailer promise has been delivered," Slemon explained. Remember that original trailer where hundreds of trainers battled Mewtwo? Yeah, we think he has a point. That doesn't mean development of the game or its current mechanics will stop, though. "We expect small iterations to our existing features over time, as well," Slemon went on to say. Those will apparently include tweaks to the PvP and battle features.

While Pokémon Go is effectively a modern-day version of the games we played as kids except we can explore the entire world on our quest to become a Pokémon master, we still think there are some core mechanics missing. While there is an element of badge collecting to Pokémon Go, there is not as much importance placed on it as there could be. That element of the game could definitely be improved upon. Plus, how about a modern-day version of the Elite Four to pit ourselves against once we think we're ready?